Pregnant woman, cohort busted in Maguindanao del Norte anti-shabu sting

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — A police team seized P340,000 worth of shabu from two peddlers, one of them a 32-year-old pregnant woman, entrapped in nearby Barangay Capiton in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte on Thursday.

Local officials and barangay leaders told reporters on Saturday that Fatima Bagundang Esmail, who is now detained, had used her pregnancy as a cover for her peddling of shabu in Datu Odin Sinsuat and in barangays in this city.

Esmail and her accomplice, Hamid Dalama Guimba, 23, yielded peacefully when they sensed that they have sold P340,000 worth of shabu to non-uniformed personnel of the Datu Odin Sinsuat Municipal Police Station, led by Lt. Col. Sahibon Mamantal, in a tradeoff on Thursday along a highway in Barangay Capiton.

Brig. Gen. Prexy Tanggawohn, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, said on Saturday that Mamantal and his subordinates laid the sting that led to the arrest of Esmail and Guimba after receiving information from tipsters aware of their illegal activities. 

Tanggawohn said Esmail had used her being pregnant to easily get through police checkpoints along routes leading to barangays where she and Guimba delivered shabu to contacts using a motorcycle.